Report: Chinese site may show Malaysia Airlines plane debris images

Wednesday

Mar 12, 2014 at 7:08 PMMar 12, 2014 at 7:08 PM

Satellite images on a Chinese government website show suspected debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner floating off the southern tip of Vietnam, near the plane's original flight path, China's Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.

The Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Satellite images on a Chinese government website show suspected debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner floating off the southern tip of Vietnam, near the plane's original flight path, China's Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.

The revelation could provide searchers with a focus that has eluded them since the plane disappeared with 239 people aboard just hours after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing early Saturday. Since then, the search has covered 35,800 square miles (92,600 square kilometers), first east and then west of Malaysia and even expanded toward India on Wednesday.

The Chinese sighting, if confirmed, would be closer to where the frantic hunt started.

The Xinhua report said the images from around 11 a.m. on Sunday appear to show "three suspected floating objects" of varying sizes in a 20-kilometer radius, the largest about 24-by-22 meters (79-by-72 feet).

The images originally were posted on the website of China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

That site reports coordinates of a location in the sea off the southern tip of Vietnam and east of Malaysia. The coordinates are similar to those mentioned Sunday by the head of China's Civil Aviation Administration, Li Jiaxiang.

"Suspected debris has been seen in the area of longitude 103.29 degrees east and latitude 6.42 degrees north," Li said Sunday, confirming that Chinese search and rescue teams had been sent to the area.

With the passage of time since the satellite images were taken, it is far from certain that whatever they show would be in the same location now.

No other governments have confirmed the Xinhua report, which did not say when Chinese officials became aware of the images and associated them with the missing plane.

Two-thirds of the passengers on the flight were Chinese, and the Chinese government has put increasing pressure on Malaysian officials to find solve the mystery of the plane's disappearance.

Malaysia's civil aviation chief, Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, said Malaysia had not been officially informed by China about the images, which he said he was learning about from the news.

He said if Beijing informs them of the coordinates, Malaysia will dispatch vessels and planes immediately.

"If we get confirmation, we will send something," he told The Associated Press early Thursday.

Until then, he urged caution. "There have been lots of reports of suspected debris."